The regular meeting of the Utah Transportation Commission, held at the UDOT Rampton Complex, 4501 South 2700 West, Salt Lake City, Utah, was called to order at 9:04 a.m. by Chairman Glen E. Brown. He welcomed those attending.

Approval of Minutes

Commissioner Wells moved to approve the minutes of the January 19, 2007, Commission meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Commissioner Lewis seconded the motion and the minutes were approved.

Public Comments

There were no public comments.

UDOT Scoreboard

Jim McMinimee, Project Development Director, distributed and reviewed the report on how many projects had been advertised through February 10th. He noted that January was included with February’s report because no report was given at last month’s meeting.

Robert Hull, Engineer for Traffic and Safety, provided accident and crash data, including crashes by month, cumulative pedestrian fatalities, cumulative fatalities, and cumulative fatalities per 100 million VMT.

Mountain View Corridor

Teri Newell, Region Two Project Manager, updated the Commission on the alignment situation in Utah County near Utah Lake. She said they have been working with numerous stakeholders to try to understand the issues and to try and find a better alignment than they currently have. In doing so, they looked at 2100 North as a possibility for a freeway. In regards to relocation and wetlands impacts, they found that with the 2100 North option, there were 30 to 40 home and business relocations, compared to 150 to 200 relocations with the southern alignment. In terms of wetland impacts, 2100 North had between 10 and 20 acres of impacts, compared to 80 to 100 acres of impacts in the southern alignment. In looking at those two measures, they decided they needed to look at 2100 North further. From a transportation perspective, they found that 2100 North would be better utilized at that location than at the southern alignment. It would also work well with I-15, and would allow them to build five miles less of freeway, bringing costs down by about $200 million.

Ms. Newell remarked that bringing 2100 North into the process at this point could be a little difficult, but they have already been studying 2100 North as part of the arterial solution, which they plan to continue to do. And since they have been studying it as an arterial, they’ve already gathered all of the impact information for that area. If they do add 2100 North in with the alternatives they are currently looking at, there may be some schedule implications. But if they do some innovative things over the next several months, they could still reach their goal of having a draft document ready in October and a public hearing before Thanksgiving. That’s a time frame they don’t want to let slip. Commissioner Millington said he thinks 2100 North is a great alternative and solves a lot of the difficult issues they’ve been wrestling with. It’s a very workable solution.

Robert Hull, Traffic and Safety Engineer, gave a powerpoint presentation that focused on their goals, program highlights, and funding recommendations.

Administrative Rule ReviewR907-67 Debarment of Contractors from Work on Department Projects

Jim McMinimee said this rule applies to a very small number of contracts that UDOT administers. UDOT maintains the right to debar a contractor from working for UDOT based on inappropriate actions by the contractor, as defined by state code and UDOT standard specifications. The Department wants to change the debarment hearing process from a very formal, legalistic process to a more informal, fact-finding process, and have hearings take place at the Department. Anyone who has to go through that process would still have the legal process available to them should they disagree with the Department’s informal fact-finding process. Another change being proposed would be to allow the Deputy Director to suspend a contractor during the hearing process, if the Department believes that allowing the contractor to work for UDOT during that period would be detrimental to the public. The Department feels these changes to the rule will help ensure that the traveling public gets what they need from the jobs being put out to bid.

R912-9 Pilot/Escort Requirements and Certification Program

Rick Clasby, Director of Motor Carriers, distributed an updated copy of the rule. He said this rule applies to the operation of pilot/escort vehicles, and the individuals in the cars assigned to super heavy or extreme wide loads. Those drivers have been required to be trained and certified to a certain level. However, a loophole was found in the rule in that the flagging operation associated with those drivers or operators had typically been referred to the MUTCD manual, which was very specific to construction related flagging but did not have an allowance for this type of operation. The final page of the rule addresses the loophole to allow those people to establish flagging positions and help move oversize loads in a safe and appropriate manner. There are also a couple of equipment modifications, allowances for technology improvements, etc.

Planning and ProgrammingAeronauticsFY 07 CIP Amendment #1

Kirk Nielson from Aeronautics explained that this is the last year of the FAA’s current authorization. Every airport that is part of the national system receives an entitlement, which can be banked and used in later years for larger airport projects. However, because there is uncertainty as to what the next reauthorization bill will look like, the FAA and the Division of Aeronautics is asking all airports that have entitlement funds banked or available, to use them this year to avoid losing them. Mr. Nielsen noted that three projects will use entitlement funds – Beaver, Escalante, and Green River, and Duchesne has money from 2006 that they will use with their 2007 funds. The Salt Lake Airport Authority made one change to their FY 07 CIP for projects at the Salt Lake International Airport, and they will be getting $2 million in discretionary funds. No state matching funds are tied to that project. At the Provo Airport, runway markings are badly faded and pavements are in need of preservation and needs to be addressed immediately, so a state funded project is being added to the 2007 program. Funds would come from recovered and additional funds received from tax on fuel sales above their projections. Salt Lake Airport #2 will receive a grant from the FAA that requires a state match for their project. Therefore, the action needed today would be for approval of FY 07 CIP Amendment #1 – an addition of $2,475,000 of FAA funds to the FY 07 program and allocate $200,000 of uncommitted state funds towards projects.

Commissioner Millington moved for approval as requested. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Lewis and approved.

Max Ditlevsen, Program Finance Director, noted that last month, the Commission approved the combining of two projects on SR-30 in Box Elder and Cache Counties, and the addition of $5.3 million to those projects, which came from state funds on the Smithfield Main Street project. The plan was to then restore the Smithfield Main Street project funds and increase the amount of funding available as well, with monies from the Washington Boulevard/US-89 project in Ogden. UDOT would then rescope the Ogden project to an asphalt pavement rehabilitation project. The Cache MPO has considered the Smithfield action and a public comment period took place, ending on February 15. No comments were received. The US-89 project required action by WFRC, which took place in their January 2007 meeting.

Commissioner Bodily made a motion to approve the requested funding adjustments; to combine the projects on SR-30, to fund the Smithfield Main Street project at a higher level, and to adjust the scope of the Washington Boulevard/US-89 project as recommended. It was seconded by Commissioner Wells and approved.

SR-10; Muddy Creek to Ferron – Funding Adjustment

Mr. Ditlevsen said this project is presently funded at $11 million, and sits in 2009 and 2010. The intent today is to move this project forward, but it is in need of an additional $1.5 million. The reasons for the funding increase are explained in the fact sheet. The source of funds recommended for the increase are STP-Non Urban (rural) funds available in 2008 from the Woodland Hills Drive; SR-198 to Arrowhead Trail funds exchange pilot project.

Commissioner Wilson moved to approve the request to move funds to the SR-10; Muddy Creek to Ferron project, as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Lewis and approved.

Corridor Preservation Fund Status

Lyle McMillan, Director of Right of Way, updated the Commission on the budget and status of the Corridor Preservation Fund. He reviewed the handout in the binder and noted that there is only $250,000 left to spend on current needs, which are at least $12 million. And, as people learn that UDOT is purchasing property on the Mountain View Corridor, it creates a snowball effect. Chairman Brown requested that a report be presented to the Commission periodically containing a comparison of the numbers from the Commission’s approved amount for purchase, the amount a property closed for, the difference, and the total. Commissioner Millington referred to the listing on the handout for the Giovengo property that was purchased last month and noted that the Commission approved up to $2.5 million, but the handout reflects $2.65 million. Additional discussion focused on the County Local Option Registration Fee to be used for corridor preservation.

Long Range Plan Draft Document

Matt Swapp from Program Development gave a powerpoint presentation on the Long Range Plan, as a follow up to the presentation given in December. He said his objectives were to present a draft of the 2007-2030 Rural Area Long Range plan and to ask for approval to take the plan out to public comment. The proposed public comment period would run for 30 days, from the end of March through the end of April. Each of the MPO’s will also put their plans out for comment during the same time period. The plan addresses rural area capacity needs; projects in the plan were developed with input from the region offices, local officials, and through other public outreach. The rural area plan is one of a set of five planning documents that together make up the Statewide Long Range Transportation plan; the intent is to publish an Executive Summary in July, after each of the boards have had a chance to approve their individual plans. Mr. Swapp reviewed the project list and noted that while over $3 billion has been programmed through phases one, two and three, there’s still an additional $3.4 billion in unfunded needs. Discussion ensued regarding expansion of MPO’s by the year 2030.

Commissioner Warnick moved to approve taking the Rural Area Long Range Plan out to public comment. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bodily and approved.

Rest Area Committee Recommendations

Ahmad Jaber, Program Development Director, provided a brief background of the rest area program then turned the time over to Tim Taylor of WCEC Engineers for a presentation of key recommendations from the study and associated costs. Mr. Taylor referred to the handout and said the study covered a 20 year planning horizon, and the recommendations were placed in one of four time categories: immediate (0-1 years), near term (2-5 years), mid term (6-10 years) and long term (11-20 years). The associated costs listed are in 2006 dollars. If the recommendations are Transportation Enhancement eligible, they are highlighted in red. Mr. Taylor reviewed the projects and costs in each of the categories. He said the executive summary distributed last month provides additional details related to the recommendations, as well as a map showing the location of each facility.

Prioritization Process for Interchanges

Ahmad Jaber reviewed the prioritization process for interchanges. He discussed interchange participation guidelines, the four categories of potential interchanges, transportation factors for existing corridors, potential transportation factors for existing signals to upgrade to interchange, potential transportation factors for new interchanges on existing highways, and other types of interchanges. Mr. Jaber referred to the spreadsheet under Tab 12 and explained in detail the factors used to evaluate existing signalized intersections and new interchanges on existing freeways. He emphasized that the list is to help UDOT and the MPO’s look at the projects and how they are prioritized, and to help with the decisions to select projects. The MPO’s are the ones that put the projects within their boundaries in the Long Range Plan. The list was generated from input from the regions, staff, and the public.

Project Ranking Process for Economic Impact

Ahmad Jaber explained that in discussions about the project prioritization process, they ended up with two phases for the process. Phase one was to prioritize based on engineering criteria, the second phase was to look at other factors, such as economic impact. As a result, the Department worked with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), gave them a list, and asked them to help prioritize the projects, which are in tier two of the spreadsheet. The projects highlighted in pale green had the highest value of return from GOED, and rankings were based on three criteria: alignment with seven industry clusters, alignment with location of future economic activity, and alignment with planning efforts. Carlos Braceras mentioned that he thought that the GOED input was valuable, and gave a perspective the Department hadn’t had the benefit of before. Commissioner Wells commented that it’s still subjective; there are probably other things that could be rolled into this in another perspective, but it’s a good starting point.

Designation of High Priority Corridors

Ahmad Jaber said that this item was presented last month, and based on input received, US-89 was added to the list. When the process was created, Senator Killpack wanted a concise list, and wanted to encourage locals to participate in preserving corridors using the vehicle registration fees. Chairman Brown asked if the Commission had authority to add or delete corridors from the list. Mr. Jaber said the Commission does have that authority.

Commissioner Wells made a motion to approve the resolution and the High Priority Corridors list, and that the Commission add or delete corridors as so inclined in the future. Commissioner Warnick seconded it and the motion was approved.

Mr. Jaber said a presentation was given last month on this policy. From the comments made, the policy has been cleaned up. He reviewed the minor changes made to the policy and said it is now ready for Commission approval.

Commissioner Warnick moved for approval of Policy 07-10 Selecting and Programming Highway Projects. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Lewis and approved.

Informational ItemsUpdate on Parley’s Canyon

Randy Park, Region Two Director, gave an update on the recent accident situation in Parley’s Canyon. He talked about the factors contributing to the high accident rate and the methods the Region used to mitigate the situation, including what worked and what didn’t work. Detailed discussion followed regarding the use/non-use of grit on roads, air quality regulations and the state’s implementation plan, and improvements that will be made in Parley’s Canyon to help minimize problems in the future.

Commission Committee Reports

Commissioner Lewis reported that the Enhancement Committee’s work has started; Commissioner Wilson discussed the CIB; Commissioner Wells gave a report on the Joint Policy Advisory Committee and UTA; Commissioner Warnick mentioned the Ropeway Committee’s recent meeting. Commissioner Millington announced that the Air Travel Commission will disband and no longer exist after their final meeting in March.

Transportation Commission Meetings

The next regular Transportation Commission meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 16, 2007, in Price, Utah. The following dates and locations have been scheduled: